Festive prints charming

While buying
artworks for family and friends might seem an intimidating prospect, there are
few presents that can have a greater impact. Charlie Philips’ Eleven fine art
gallery is a glorious place to start the search for just the right piece.

Following on from its private view on Thursday December 13 and continuing until Saturday January 12, Eleven’s Christmas Salon (2011 exhibition in second picture) takes its inspiration from the Salon de
Paris, and features work by a cherry-picked selection of artists, which covers the walls from floor to ceiling.

It will showcase new pieces by the
established contemporary artists the gallery represents, including pop sculptor Ben
Turnbull, illustrator Natasha Law, the rather extraordinary film-maker Gerry
Fox (who is currently reworking digital art inspired by Rodin and Schiele), painter Jonathan Yeo (whose solo show at the gallery, Some People, ended on
December 8) and hyperrealist painter Roland Hicks, plus non-Eleven artists, such as illustrator Daisy de Villeneuve and iconic landscape
photographer David Yarrow.

Among the top picks
are Jonathan Yeo portraits – hand-finished prints of 10 personalities, including model
Erin O’Connor and actress Nicole Kidman (first picture), that form a limited edition of 60 (£10,800 for the portfolio); Infinite, an original oil on canvas by Natasha Kissell,
known for her modernist architectural utopian visions (third picture, £3,250); and a suitably
huge elephant study (a 1.55m-wide giclée print, edition of 25, £7,000) by David
Yarrow, entitled Big.

Stocking
fillers come courtesy of a prints section, with prices starting at £100. The
idea, says gallery manager Susannah Haworth, is that the show offers “an
affordable avenue to start or enhance any collection”. A great addition to Christmas lists would be the Natasha Law Hitch nude, a 30cm x 45cm limited edition of 150 silkscreen print that is also signed by the artist for just
£195 (£250 after the exhibition). Hint, hint, Santa.

Archive choice

Over the past 10 years, photojournalists have increasingly captured the attention of the art world as their powerfully affecting images cross over from news agencies to gallery and museum walls. Pernilla Holmes reports